The deputy governor, according to a statement by the ministry’s Press Officer, Mrs Mistura Oshileye, disclosed that despite the dwindling economic fortune of the country, the Ogun State government had spent enormous funds to procure the graders because of what she said was its commitment to the development of the rural areas.

The state deputy governor, Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Onanuga, who also oversees the activities of the Ministry of Rural Development, said the programme would reduce the dangers faced by rural dwellers while travelling on bad roads.

We are all aware of the fact that 80 percent of agricultural products in the country comes from the rural areas and the hinterland, and that half of this agricultural produce get damaged before getting to the markets due to a number of reasons, among which is the lack of good road networks to link the rural areas to consumers and markets in the urban areas”, she said.

Chief Onanuga added that the growth of the rural communities would not only increase the supply of farm produce to the markets, it would also improve the social welfare of rural dwellers, as well as kerb rural-urban drift among youths.

She, therefore, enjoined the beneficiaries to properly manage the equipment to enhance their sustainability, adding that community leaders should ensure they put in place monitoring schemes to enable qualitative roads that would meet what she described as the “Ogun standard”.

In his welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Rural Development, Mr Wale Ogunyomade, said the development of the rural areas would alleviate poverty among rural dwellers as youths would be encouraged to participate in agricultural activities in their communities.

In his address, the Speaker, State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, charged local government chairmen in the state to make judicious use of the equipment, adding that all local governments should cooperate with one another towards sustaining the growth of the rural communities.

In their goodwill messages, the chairmen of Obafemi-Owode Local Government and Ado Odo Local Council Development Area, Asalulo and Segun Idowu respectively, appreciated the effort of the governor on fulfilling his electoral promise to develop the rural areas of the state, adding that the gesture would not only make life easier for the people of the rural communities, it would also make the job of the local government chairmen easier.

The State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the incident happened at Ewooluwo-Sagamu in Sagamu local government area of the state.

Oyeyemi said in a statement:

“The suspect, who is a member of the disbanded Merchant Navy, used handcuffs to chain his wife who had become so weak as a result of alleged beating by the husband.

“The people in the neighborhood, who had been witnessing frequent beating of the wife by the suspect, alerted the police of the latest happening consequent upon which the DPO, Shagamu, SP Aduroja Moses, led his men to the scene.

“The DPO rescued the victim and got the suspect arrested. “On interrogation, the suspect admitted chaining the woman to a generator, but claimed his action was in self-defence.

“The state Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Iliyasu, who described the action of the suspect as the height of wickedness, has ordered the transfer of the case to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation.

“The CP warned residents of the state that the command will not tolerate any act of domestic violence no matter who is involved.”

Five injured while one is feared dead from an auto car crash that occurred along the Abeokuta-Ibadan Road, Asero, Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Monday.

The accident was said to have occurred around the Muda Lawal Stadium area at about 2.05pm.

The three cars involved in the crash were a Nissan Micra taxi, with number plate, SGM 918 XA; a Honda Accord, with number plate, EKY 191 XA; and another Nissan taxi, with number plate, AYE 814 XA.

The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident.

He said the Honda Accord had a brake failure, which made the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

“The car veered off its lane and rammed into the oncoming Nissan Micra taxi, killing the driver instantly. Another Nissan taxi was also involved in the accident. Five people were injured in the multiple crash, including two adults and three children,” he added.

The five injured victims were reportedly taken to the Sacred Heart Catholic Hospital, Lantoro, Abeokuta, while the driver of the Honda Accord was arrested by men of the Obantoko Police Station.

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state have, in a petition, accused Governor Ibikunle Amosun of killing the party in his bid to stave off other influential stalwarts who may want to bid for the governorship stool of the state after his tenure.

According to the petitioners, since the 2015 general elections, “the party has not been holding meetings at all levels in the state, like state, senatorial, local government and at the ward levels. All party meetings have been replaced by briefings only from the governor – Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.

Submitting a petition to the Chief John Odigue-Oyegun led national leadership of the party Tuesday in Abuja, seven APC local government chairmen who said they represented 13 of their other colleagues urged the party to halt the “ignoble and illegal activities” of the governor.

The petition started: “The state executive organ was and still is hardly financed by the APC-led administration of Gov. Ibikunle Amosun even with countless pleas from elders of the party.

“The state exco organ of the party in the state has become an appendage of the governor and this has divided and paralysed party structure at all levels in the state”, they alleged.

Briefing journalists after submitting the petition, spokesman of the group, Barr. Ayo Banjo said the governor has now declared other influential members of the party as persona non grata.

“Party members are not free to attend political functions with great party leaders in the state. Attending functions with these leaders are often met with the victimization of party members, harassment, illegal suspension and removal of party executives. The governor does all these with reckless abandon and without regard to the political convenience leading to the emergence of the party excos at all levels in the state which hitherto had guaranteed peace”, they submitted.

A woman in Ogun State revealed that Nigerian soldier beast her husband to death.

Glory Fagbayibi told our correspondent that the four soldiers gave a severe beating to her husband at the insistence of the landlady of 10 Prince Jamiu Oyebade Street, near Car Wash bus stop in Ogijo, Ogun State. She added that her husband, who owed the landlady a month’s rent, died 15 days after the assault.

Electricity consumers in Abeokuta, Ogun capital, have bemoaned a month-long poor power supply in spite of improvement in power generation nationwide.

The consumers told the News Agency of Nigeria that hours of electricity supply by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company had reduced considerably in the last one month.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria recently wheeled out over 4,500 megawatts of electricity to 11 distribution companies (Discos) as gas distribution improved slightly.

Mrs Funmilayo Ajogbasile, a President of Lions Club in Ogun, described the near-blackout situation in the state capital as unfortunate and dehumanizing.

“It is unfortunate that we are experiencing this blackout; I thought the new government will bring us out of the doldrums but it appears we are being plunged deeper into darkness by the Discos.

“It is so bad that you cannot buy food items in bulk and store in the freezer to save cost in this harsh economy; government should overhaul the power sector and get rid of clogs in the wheel of progress as well as assist the Discos to replace old equipment.

“The directive of the Minister of Power, Mr Babatunde Fashola, is not being complied with on the installation of pre-paid meters for all houses by Discos because they make more money from estimated and crazy bills they give consumers,’’ she told NAN on telephone.

Mr Wole Elegbede, a former Chief Press Secretary to Ogun Governor, also bemoaned the situation, suspecting sabotage by the distribution company in supplying electricity to its consumers in Abeokuta in spite of improvement in power generation.

“There is no value for the money we pay for electricity not supplied, it is very unfortunate that the privatisation of the power sector by the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration has not improved power supply.

“In the past three weeks or more power supply has really deteriorated that we can only boast of light for five hours in a week.

“The government should do something urgently to ensure stable power supply if at least for eight hours daily on rationing basis in line with its change mantra,” he said.

Ajogbasile, a retired school principal, suggested that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC) should establish offices in all the 36 states for easy access by electricity consumers and to attend promptly to consumers’ complaints.

Mr Lola Sotola, a resident of Onikolobo area of Abeokuta described the services by IBEDC as poor, saying we do not enjoy light again even when there had been improvement in power generation.

“In Onikolobo and Adigbe area even in parts of the city there is no light.

“They `flash’ it sometimes or provide two or three hours of electricity every other day.”

Another consumer, Mr Oluyemi Omotayo, also told NAN that some communities in the suburb enjoy at least 10 hours of electricity daily, leaving Abeokuta in darkness.

He named the communities as Obada, Akinjole, Lala, Awowo, Wasimi and Ewekoro.

Two persons have been confirmed killed and eight others seriously injured as a trailer driving against the traffic collided with two vehicles on Monday night at Abule Oko in Ewekoro/Ifo axis of the Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway.

The Commander of Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, TRACE, Seni Ogunyemi, who confirmed the auto crash on Tuesday ‎said it occurred at about 8.30 p.m.

It involved a trailer with registration number BDG 947XR, a Mazda bus with registration number SMK 800XN and a Volkswagen car, with registration number KTU 479 AS.

Mr. Ogunyemi said the accident was caused by the truck driver who drove against the traffic, resulting in the fatal collision.

He said the remains of the dead victims had been deposited at the morgue of General Hospital, Ifo, while those injured were being attended to at the hospital.

In a related development, the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Ogun State Command, said it was trying to get an update on a crash in the Mowe/Asese axis of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The accident, which occurred at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, involved a trailer with registration number BDG 801XD and another truck with registration number XA 198ZUR.

The Sector Commander of the FRSC, Clement Oladele, said one of the vehicles moving from Lagos hit another moving in the other direction.

He said the accident caused obstruction to traffic on the highway, but recorded no casualty.

Mr. Oladele in an update at 9 a.m. said the affected vehicles had been removed but that it would take some time to ensure traffic flow.

The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Monday signed into law the bill upgrading Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, into Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology.

Mr. Amosun gave assent to the bill earlier passed by the State House of Assembly at the executive council meeting and also signed into law the re-establishment of Ogun State Polytechnic in Ipokia Area of the state.

He disclosed that the institutions would be multi-campus, as government would engage think-tanks and academics to provide the technical guide for the successful take-off of the institutions so as to compete favourably with their contemporaries.

Mr. Amosun commended the efforts of the State House of Assembly for the timely passage of the bill and assured that the necessary documents had been done and sent to the appropriate quarters.

The Speaker of the House, Suraj Adekunbi, while speaking with journalists said the Assembly accelerated passage of the bill because of the prospect and opportunities the institutions have for the state and the education sector.

‎He added that the step would also create employment opportunities for the people and improve access to tertiary education in Ipokia and its environs.